GalleryBlake Prize finalists

Updated
Thu Oct 17 18:43:17 EST 2013

Trevor Nickolls: "I have included elements that are both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal - like the peace doves on each side of the Aboriginal man - which are Christian. This represents me – I am Aboriginal and also have other ancestry and was brought up Christian."

Supplied

Liam Benson: "The portrait draws parallels between Santa as an icon of celebrated humanity at a time of spiritual festivity and the notion of how Christmas contributes to the national identity within Australian culture."

Supplied: Liam Benson

The Bamiyan Buddhas of Afghanistan were destroyed in 2001 by Taliban soldiers. Says Michael Cardacino: "By rebuilding the Buddha's image out of images of those that destroyed it, I hoped to express the Buddhist idea of non-attachment, forgiveness, love and compassion."

Supplied: Michael Cardacino

Alia Mahmoud: "Cotton Summer Dresses is a performance poetry piece based on an oral history narrative that was passed down through my family. It is a story of war in my homeland, Eritrea and the subsequent migration of the Eritrean people."

Supplied: Alia Mahmoud

"With reference to baptism, Introduction speaks of the child-like inexpressible and glorious joy of total immersion in the spirit. In this dreamscape, key moments resonate with ambiguous significance, allowing paint's own intrinsic capacity for narrative possibilities."

Supplied: Gregory Hodge and Clare Thackway

Jacquelene Drinkall: "Weatherman UFology (Kandos Occupation) documents the interactive relational performativity of a large UFO structure installed at Kandos, made from high-impact acrylic Perspex – the same material as police riot shields. The work is anchored in the cultivation of cult-like intersubjective group mind, telepathy and telempathy of Weatherman, ELF and Occupy activists."

Supplied: Jacquelene Drinkall

Abdul Abdullah: "Referencing The Beatles’ song and Alfred Eisenstaedt’s V-J Day at Times Square the image explores the often tumultuous paths young Muslims in Australia navigate as they define themselves as adults."

Supplied: Abdul Abdullah

John A Douglas: "The artist, shrouded in gold, is connected to a dialysis machine while levitating in a field of flowers. The work seeks to transform the daily life support treatment that the artist has endured for several years and serves as a reminder of the fragile balance between life and death."

Supplied: John A Douglas

"The caterpillar dies so the butterfly could be born. And, yet, the caterpillar lives in the butterfly and they are but one. So, when I die, it will be that I have been transformed from the caterpillar of earth to the butterfly of the universe," said John Harricharan

Supplied: Dani Martin

Joan Ross: "The basis of all my work is the connection and disconnection with nature, this underlying message suggests that the spiritual connection to land and the merging with nature is an imperative for the human soul and our survival."

Supplied: Joan Ross

The Blake Prize, which explores the religious and the spiritual through art, is one of Australia’s longest standing and most prestigious art prizes. These are a selection of the finalists for 2013.